Just Another Day at the Office

I love my job. The other day I got to hang out and chat with our two awesome Turandot leads - Othalie Graham and Randolph Locke. Can I just say that they are fab-u-lous! Opera singers are so cool (I mean, not as cool as blogging opera cows, but pretty darn close).
Here I am posing with our talented and marvelous stars. "Mimi, why on earth are they wearing sunglasses inside," I hear you asking. Well, let me explain:

1. The sun (that bright object in the sky that usually provides heat) actually made an appearance in Columbus (shocking, I know).
2. We have a real problem with Opera paparazzi outside our office (they often want to snap our photo as we dash off to another exciting Opera Columbus event *sigh*) so the glasses helped to disguise our artists.

From what I hear, practices are going extremely well. In just two days (TWO DAYS!) they already have act one blocked. Needless to say, it's gonna be a good show. Have you bought your tickets yet? NO? Get on it! Call 614.469.0939 or visit Ticketmaster.com to buy tickets today. Enjoy 20% off single tickets by using the code: FRIEND.

Turandot - Day 1

Moooooooo - opera makes me so excited!

Here I am. Excited & waiting for rehearsal to start.

This is one of my favorite days during production time - the first day of rehearsal. This is the first time all the singers have come together to sing for this production. I was lucky enough to sit in on today's rehearsal. Let me tell you - these amazingly talented artists did not disappoint. Powerful and beautiful voices filled the rehearsal space (which is a church community room - ha, you thought opera was so fancy!).

Press greets the artists. From Left to Right: Gene Allen (Emperor Altoum),
Mark Andrew Baker (Ping), Dean Anthony (Pong), Eric Johnston (Pang),
Othalie Graham (Turandot), Randolph Locke (Calaf), Diana McVey (Liu),
Sun Yu (Timur) & Eric McKeever (Mandarin).

Day one is the only time where the artists sit and sing through their parts. Speaking of parts, they come with their part memorized so they can dive right into the rehearsal process. Which they do almost instantly. Can you believe we mount a full-scale grand opera in only three weeks? That's pretty incredible!

These are the incredible folks that help make the opera magic happen.
From back to front: Ed Bak (Pianist), Bill Boggs (Artistic Director/Conductor/Chorusmaster),
John Hoomes (Stage Director), Kevin Lohr (Director of Production/Stage Manager)
& Alicia Boggs (Assistant Stage Manager).

Sing, Sing a Song

My, oh my. I don't know about you but I'm about done with all this snow and ice. I wonder if any of the Florida opera companies have an opening for a blogging cow...

Even with the cold temperatures and nasty weather things here at Opera Columbus are a poppin' and a crackin'. Our artists for Turandot arrive this weekend and I can't wait to meet the lovely Othalie Graham (Turandot) and the dashing Randolph Locke (Calaf)! But I digress (ha, imagine that)...
This past weekend I helped with the first round of judging for our Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition (IMCOCIVC). Let me just say there are some AMAZING young singers out there. I was floored by the talent our 112 applicants shared with us (via CD).

Six judges (they wouldn't let me be a judge...something about credentials) listened and reviewed all applicants and narrowed the field down to 30 singers.

So, everyone needs to venture to Weigel Hall (on the campus of The Ohio State University) on March 28 to watch the 30 semi-finalists battle it out for eight finalist spots. Then, rest up and come on back on March 29 to see the eight finalists compete for the top prize ($3,000 and a chance for a role with Opera Columbus). Also, one lucky finalist will be selected to sing at the 7th Annual Go Wild! for Opera concert in July. All the cool cows will be there.

Congratulations to our semi-finalists:

Lindsay	Ammann
Elizabeth	Baldwin
Joseph	Barron
Elizabeth	Brooks
Jonathan	Burton
Brian	Calì
Sarah	Callinan
Jessica Rose	Cambio
Carolina	Castells
Marianne	Cope
Alyssa	Cox
Jennifer	Forni
Timothy	Gartner
Jennifer	Jellings
Julie	Kinzey
Emily	Langford Johnson
Katherine	Lerner
Sarah	Lewis Jones
Catherine	Martin
Kevin	Ray
Sonia	Rodríguez Bermejo
Courtney	Ross
Paul	Scholten
Nathan	Stark
Kate	Tombaugh
Joanne	Um
Mark	Van Arsdale
Keyona	Willis
Magdalena	Wór
Jung Na	Yoon